Iniquity: the root cause of what keeps you from learning what the detailed will of God for every facet of your life directly from Him

WHAT IS INIQUITY?

The mystery of iniquity has, for centuries, been shrouded in the veils of flawed understanding. Unfortunately, the mystery of iniquity has been ignored or redefined and neutered of its significance.

Before I understood the root meaning of “iniquity,” the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew puzzled and even frightened me. I wondered why He would respond the way He did to people who were doing good things in His Name, things that Jesus Himself was doing:

“Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23 KJV).

These people were doing great things, prophesying in the Name of the Lord, casting out devils, and performing wondrous works. These seem to be great deeds that should have pleased Jesus. And aren’t these the type of good deeds that many churches teach that Christians should be doing? Then why was Jesus so displeased with what they were doing? The eye-opening answer is found in understanding the foundational meaning of the word “iniquity.”

It is important to note that like many other words in the Bible, the word iniquity has multiple definitions depending on where its found within scripture. My purpose of this article is to focus on the definition of the word that Jesus used in the above biblical account.

From its New Testament Greek perspective, the word “iniquity” that Jesus used in this insightful verse is the word anomia. According to Strong’s Concordance, someone who practices “iniquity” is described as “someone who is in violation of a specific type of law, which results in him or her being unrighteous.”

This specific type of law that this definition refers to is described in the following key verses:

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My law into their inward part, and in their minds, I will write them” (Hebrews 10:16; Jeremiah 31:33).

The inward part that this verse is referring to is the kingdom of God within your mind, which is where law (truth) directly from the Spirit of God is experienced and described in the Psalms 51:6, which says: “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, You will make me to know wisdom.”

The word “law” in the above verse according to ancient Hebrew perspective is the word Torah, which is normally a reference to “the Written Word” (i.e. Scripture). Interestingly, from a definitive root word perspective, “law” in this verse is specifically defined as “teaching” that comes through an actual teacher; it describes the purpose of this type of teaching as “the direction and instruction that one is to take in life.”

The primary purposes of laws are to create and maintain order. One of the primary functions of the Spirit of God that is within you is to teach you laws to create and maintain order regarding every aspect of His predetermined will and purposes for your life so that you are aware of what they are, and instructed as to what steps are necessary in order to live them out.

“The steps of the righteous person are ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 37:23).

We see the significance of this process more clearly when we look at the Hebrew translation for the word anomia (iniquity) that Jesus used in Matthew 7:23, which is the Hebrew word aven. It is defined as “to use the power within the loins of the mind that is purposed to reproduce and create for vain or other improper purposes.”

This power that this definition is referring to is the ability of the human mind to access the mind of God in order to experience Truth, which is the language of God, purposed to teach you His predetermined will for every aspect of your life. This process can only be experienced via the kingdom of God that is within “the loins of [your] mind” (Lk. 17:21).

To work or practice (as some biblical translations refer to it as) iniquity is to not practice going “within the loins of our minds,” which is where the kingdom of God resides, in order to experience Truth from the “power” (the mind of God) and get the specific and detailed will of God for all aspects of your life. It is instead to allow your mind to be used or influenced by other sources through the covertness of Satan that results in a counterfeit or limited spiritual experience. This will result in assuming the will of God for your life instead of receiving this vital information on a daily basis from the Spirit of God Himself.

I became a believer 30 years ago. The past 10 years have been the best years of my life as far as personal spiritual growth and development is concerned.

My three greatest accomplishments within these past 10 years have been first, accepting the sobering reality that for most of my Christian life, I was assuming the will of God for my life similar to those in the above Matthew account due to the grip that iniquity had on my life though I was a Spirit-filled believer.

My second greatest accomplishment is that I learned to study the Bible like a Hebrew in order to understand the scriptures from definitive root-word perspectives. This form of study opened my eyes to clearly seeing how limited and in some cases how error-filled was the biblical and spiritual instruction that I was receiving from many of the fivefold ministers that I was exposed to.

My third greatest accomplishment was due to my newfound more accurate form of biblical study, I saw how Jesus, the ancient prophets and many others found throughout the bible used the scriptures in what Jesus described as a “key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52) form of instruction coupled with the mental discipline of meditation in order to experience the Kingdom of God within their souls in order to experience God directly.

As a result of these life-changing experiences, in 2009 I began the journey to write and self-publish three books. My first book “The Mystery of Iniquity Revealed” explores the biblical concept of iniquity, which is the root cause of why people fail to clearly hear and learn from God in the most intimate and detailed way.

My second book “The Mystery of Prayer Revealed” researches Jesus’ prayer-life and teachings on the biblical concept of prayer from the perspective of how to hear and learn from God through the avenue of prayer.

My third book “The Mystery of the Kingdom of Revealed” reveals how to experience the greatest spiritual learning that God has inherently placed within the soul of all humanity, which Jesus referred to as “the Kingdom of God” (Luke 17:21) that can only be truly experienced through the mental discipline and practice of meditation.

Truth be told, if you are not clearly hearing and learning from God on a personal and daily basis, iniquity is perhaps present in your life without you even being aware of it. Iniquity is the unseen culprit that is keeping you from experiencing God in the most intimate and direct level possible.

2Timothy 2:19 states:
Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal: “The Lord knew those who are His.” And, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity!”

There are multiple reasons for the lack of teaching and awareness on the topic of iniquity but the primary reason is two-fold.

The first reason is that these environments teach (if they teach on it at all) that iniquity is the same as sin. Sin is a result or a manifestation of iniquity. There are no less than 55 scriptural references that differentiate the two as two separate things. We hear sermons and message about sin all the time, but when is the last time that you heard a sermon or a message on the topic of iniquity?

As previously mentioned, the second reason is that the mystery of iniquity has, for centuries, been shrouded in the veils of flawed understanding due to its root understanding being lost. Unfortunately, the mystery of iniquity has been ignored or redefined and neutered of its significance.

To expose the mystery of iniquity, many layers of preconceptions need to be challenged and exposed. Inaccurate presuppositions must also be peeled away.

To understand the mystery of iniquity, we have to challenge our own assumptions and thought patterns in search of the truth. Truth is the language of God. If you are not personally hearing and learning from God on a personal level then you are not being exposed to God’s Truth for every aspect of your life on a daily basis.

Today many denominations and beliefs congregate under the umbrella of “religion.” Many are now claiming that they are stepping away from traditional religion and have a desire to be more of what they call a “Kingdom based church.”

Many of these organizations claim to have truth or the mind of God, yet their practices, character, disagreements and manmade traditions do not portray the essence of who God really is. Much of what is being taught today caters more to the side of entertaining believers instead of inner-training believers and equipping them with knowledge on how to strengthen their spirits in learning to hear and learn from God on a personal level.

But what is the Kingdom of God according to Jesus?

When being questioned by the traditional religionist of His day about where this Kingdom that Jesus kept talking about was, the Bible record found in Luke 17:20-21 states:

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

At its core, first and foremost according to Jesus’ teachings, it’s an inner-learning-environment where one can experience truth directly from God.

Many Churches and other spiritual organizations today are mastering marketing techniques to bring the people in and give them basic Bible knowledge, yet so few Christians are given what they need to truly connect with God due to the diabolical grip and affect that iniquity has on their ministries without them even being aware of it.

This is evidenced in little to no real change in the lives of believers. They achieve a marginal level of deliverance from sinful behaviors and past lifestyles but are not truly and permanently set free from dysfunctional thinking and unhealthy tendencies. They, unfortunately, accept this limited existence and just cope with it.

Although there are hints and clues all around us, much of iniquity remains hidden to many individuals, churches, other spiritual environments, and world leaders today.

Whether the problem exists in the human being, the church or in the world at large, there is one common thread evident in these environments. There is something keeping health, peace, wholeness and true prosperity from being manifested. Similar to a computer containing a virus that contaminates data and hinders the computer from functioning at its full capacity—and sometimes causing it to not function at all—there seems to be a hidden virus that is hindering our ability to grow and prosper, personally and in society at large. The virus is “iniquity!”

Your brother in Christ and from Christ,

Julio Alvarado Jr.